No. 276 Squadron

Command
Air-Sea Rescue

History

No. 276 Squadron formed at RAF Harrowbeer in October 1941 for air-sea rescue over the western English Channel and Bristol Channel. Its crews used a mixture of Lysanders, Walruses, fighter types, Ansons and later Warwicks, with aircraft employed to find downed aircrew, drop dinghies or carry out rescue work. After the Normandy landings the squadron moved detachments, then the main unit, to the continent, and it finished the war with service in Belgium and Norway before disbanding at Dunsfold in November 1945.

Photographs

Royal Air Force Fighter Command, 1939-1945. Personnel and aircraft of [No. 276 Squadron](/squadrons/375/) RAF assembled at [Harrowbeer](/airfields/6183/), Devon, to show the resources needed to mount a single air-sea rescue sortie. The aircraft are, in front, an [Avro Anson](/aircraft/31/), a [Supermarine Spitfire](/aircraft/18/) and, at the rear, a [Supermarine Walrus](/aircraft/49/). The Commanding Officer, Squadron Leader R F Hamlyn, formerly a fighter pilot with 13 confirmed aerial victories, stands in the foreground.
ⓘ licence & creditRider-Rider (P/O), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Fighter_Command,_1939-1945._CH9017.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Fighter Command, 1939-1945. Ground crew loading a dinghy into a [Supermarine Spitfire](/aircraft/18/) Mark IIA, P8131 'AQ-C', of [No. 276 Squadron](/squadrons/375/) RAF at [Warmwell](/airfields/6382/), Dorset, during an air/sea rescue exercise.
ⓘ licence & creditClark N S (P/O), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Fighter_Command,_1939-1945._CH10732.jpgView source & full licence →
Aircraft of the Royal Air Force 1939-1945- [Supermarine Walrus](/aircraft/49/). A Walrus Mark I of [No. 276 Squadron](/squadrons/375/) RAF based at [Harrowbeer](/airfields/6183/), Devon, taxying toward a pilot in the water during an air/sea rescue exercise in the English Channel.
ⓘ licence & creditRider-Rider (Pilot Officer), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aircraft_of_the_Royal_Air_Force_1939-1945-_Supermarine_Walrus._CH9027.jpgView source & full licence →